Best of Summer

Apparently getting your bearded mug on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine is a pretty big thing. Unfortunately, if you are from Saskatoon, you might have taken issue with The Sheepdogs’ portrayal by the intrepid douchebag Boz Scaggs. In either case, most locals with any iota of inkling with the local music scene still more or less supports the ‘Dogs – mostly those people who have never been to a Sheepdogs show, let alone any local gig, fumed pointlessly at the issue.

Besides, Ryan Gullen throwing up on the steps of Amigos? Laaaame! Come talk to us again when you throw up IN Amigos…

Lots of people like kids, so it makes sense that a show review/anecdote about children and grown-ups acting like children would be well received. Plus, the Regina Folk Festival is actually a gem of a spectacle, with amazing performers like KD Lang, Fred Penner and KT Tunstall rubbing elbows with the likes of Dan Mangan, Library Voices and Shotgun Jimmie. Plus, drunken babysitting adventures and wayward face-painting.

Tour diaries are always an interesting read – although touring as a musician has been oft romanticized few understand the ennui and heartbreak that go along with the brief bursts of onstage glory. Aaron Soulz provides a hugely compelling read for anyone who has either spent time on the Trans Canada or for those searching for an inkling to a life spent wasted on gas station coffee and endless sound-checks.

Ex-Saskatonian Chris Daviduik’s Sexy Mathematics has dished up the perfect summer soundtrack to sweaty pink electroclash tights and laser-addled club beats with their new album Future Nights. Plus he lives in Toronto now and that’s kind of a thing.

One of the best locals-only shows to hit Amigos this summer (no easy feat – there were a bunch of amazing gigs to pick from), Slow Down Molasses curated an amazing circus of Saskatoon talent, featuring kitten-whisper-folk rock acts to barb-wire guitar gut rock. Even better, several bands played their first shows in front of sell-out capacity crowds. And we got most of it on video. Sorry everyone who played from 1:30 am on – the liquor was not kind.